


Mania

by MitzvahRose



Series: My Best Works [11]
Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Ellis Focus, Ellis POV, Game: Left 4 Dead 2, Green Flu, Infected-centric, Jockey POV, Mental Instability, Slow To Update, Special Infected
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 05:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11503152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MitzvahRose/pseuds/MitzvahRose
Summary: A wounded Jockey is left no choice but to take control of the very Survivor that injured it. This results in some kinda cliche plot twist with the Jockey and Ellis (the unfortunate, wounded survivor) trapped in a safe room, barricaded in from the outside.Well crud, looks like they're stuck together. At least they haven't tried to kill each other since they got in… Anyways, long story short, Ellis has to deal with a bipolar zombie, and worse yet, he's starting to feel bad for the little guy. Great. Just great.**Updates on Fridays (not every week)





	1. Make it Hurt (Jockey)

Giggling wildly, it crawls along the roof of a building, prowling, searching… running away.

_Hungryhungryhungr-eehehehehghhssss..._

Laughter turning into a pained hiss, it stops, crumpling over with a pained whine.

_Painpainpainhungryfoodhungrypain!_

Freakishly long arms curl around its torso. It tries yet again to rise into a crouch, howling with pained cackles as it simply falls over again. Its legs are splayed out behind it, both at awkward angles and one bleeding profusely. It had barely escaped the last battle where it received those wounds by hiding behind a smelly box in the dark place. It never wants to climb so far like this again—never wants to feel this pain again.

_Hurthurthurt—makeitsto-ahaha-op!_

Barely able to whimper out a faint giggle now, it dragged itself over towards the edge of the building.

_Fighting—othersfightingfoodfoodfoodfood..._

Teeth chattering in reflex, it hissed out a feral, pained sound upon reaching the edge, finally having stopped laughing. Leaning over, dangerously close to falling, what was left of its mouth curled into a snarl of pain-filled fury.

_Human. Human hurt, hurt it, painpainpain! Must kill, killkillkill make-it-hurt-too-hurt-it BAD!_

It moved as though to reach for the cause of its agony, right arm twitching erratically towards one of the humans far below it. Screeching out, it quickly stopped. It can't hurt the human like this, it couldn't even do anything while it was unharmed, let alone now.

_C-c-caaaan’t! T-to-ooo weeeaak… ehehehehe…_

It watched the battle, stifling giggles, simmering in emotions it could not name. It felt weird, like laughing was wrong right now. But why was laughing wrong?

Flinching as it remembered its injuries. Yes, laughing was bad because of the _pain_ the human caused.

_Painpainpainpainbadhurtno!_

The feeling… Anger, it remembered anger, so much anger. And now it knew that it was shaking and its teeth were chattering due to hatred towards the human.

It looked down suddenly, hearing a familiar cough.

_Human! Human gone! Wherewherewhere—there!_

It was alone, separated from its pack for once thanks to a Longtongue. Not only that, but the human was directly under the roof it was perched on!

It trembled in not-glee, it's twitching even worse now. Finally, finally! It could hurt the human who did this, hurt it back, make it pay!

Crawling closer to the edge, it suddenly hesitated.

_Where, where firestick? No want pain, nononono… Yeeehehesss!_

It gave a half giggle, seeing the Longtongue had also managed to remove the human’s weapons. It couldn't fight back, the human was weak without its deathspitter!

Hissing in triumph, it let itself fall towards the human.


	2. Aw, Hell in a Handbasket! (Ellis)

“Motherf— TONGUE!”

Twisting around while in the Smoker’s grip, Ellis struggled to aim his pistols at the special infected that was now barely a few feet away. But before he knew it, his guns were knocked away from him by a swipe from the creature, both now lost somewhere in the alley. Shouting in pain, he continued to struggle, managing to kick the Smoker upside the head. The infected stumbled backwards, stunned, tongue slackening. Taking his chance, Ellis frantically clambered away from the Smoker while reaching for his rifle. There was only one bullet left, but that was all he needed.

The Smoker suddenly lunged for him, tongue at the ready. Acting on impulse, Ellis swung his gun around, clubbing the infected in the face. Again, it stumbled back in a daze and the survivor wasted no time in taking the shot. It hit home, the infected’s head instantly exploding with the noxious gas this zombie was known for.

Coughing, but relieved at having killed it, Ellis tried to back away from the smoking, well, Smoker. Key word: tried. Because the next thing he knew something had landed on his back! And it was scratching his face, clawing at his eyes in search of purpose on his admittedly fragile skin.

The Survivor’s first thought was _‘Hunter!’_ and immediately, he attempted to slam back into the nearest wall. Ellis was, understandably, quite surprised when he went in the opposite direction of what he had been aiming for. Struggling with whatever the hell was on his back, it occurred to Ellis that if this were a normal Hunter he’d already be on the ground and in a _lot_ more pain. That meant this thing had to be a… Jockey? Huh? Where’s the freakin’ giggling?! Not that he’s complaining… These things are hell’a annoying.

Shouting in pain, Ellis struggled against the Humper. “Rochelle! Coach! Hell, Nick! Damn it guys, where are ya?! This thing’s riding me!”

Yelling for his friends, while normally a good idea, may not have been Ellis’ brightest considering he was currently stuck in an out of the way alley. Oh, and he may have forgotten that loud noises attract—

“Shit! Horde!”

The Rider finally chose that moment to start giggling. Loudly at that, and right in Ellis’ ear while still clawing at his face. Jockeys may not be as strong as Hunters, but that didn't mean Ellis wanted to get jumped by a Humper. Even less when a hell lot of other sons of bitches were heading his way!

As if on cue, the first zombie rounded the corner just then. The moment it noticed the panicking survivor it lunged at him, eager to take part in the kill. It didn't take long for the rest of them to join in, helping the Jockey tear the survivor apart. Thankfully (or maybe not) this didn't last too long thanks to the sudden appearance of a Charger.

“Damn it all! Move, you effin’ Humper!”

Surprisingly, the smallest of the special infected seemed to actually listen to his panicked cry. When it saw the big ass arm heading their way it let out a really pissed off sounding screech and forced Ellis to backpedal away from the Horde. Not fast enough, as Charger soon met Survivor, sending him (and the barely clinging on Jockey) hurtling backwards.

Ellis’s back soon met door. Said door swung open in response to the impact, the not-so-quietly cursing survivor and tag along tumbling in. Before the Jockey could recover; however, Ellis tossed the infected off of him now that its grip was weak from shock. Spinning around, he grabbed the door’s handle and shoved it closed. Not a moment too soon to, as the zombies were already trying to claw their way in.

“Hell in a hand basket, this ain't good!” Ellis pressed his back to the door, struggling to hold the zombies at bay.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Horde, angered at having lost their meal, converged upon the unfortunate Charger. Sheer numbers overwhelmed the beast, leading to it smashing into the brick wall opposite the room Ellis had just been thrust in. The wall instantly shattered, crumbling on top of the Charger along with its fellow infected, and in the process, crashing into the door as well. Miraculously, the door held, but only just.

Ellis, on the other hand, was knocked back from the impact. He managed to keep his footing, though, and gawked at his sudden luck. Not wanting to jinx it or something, he didn't question it and instead turned around, grimacing as he did so.

Two problems down, one to go.

Not having a weapon at the ready, Ellis recklessly punted the wounded Jockey across the room like a football. It hit the wall next to another doorframe, causing the hick to grin. “Hell yah! Take that, ya Head-Humper!” He ran to the creature, snatching it before it could move and swung the door open towards himself, chucking the infected into the adjoining room which just so happened to be a safe house. After that, Ellis wasted no time slamming the red door shut and barricading it from the outside with the nearest object—a small dresser.

Letting out a bark of laughter, the Southerner gave a toothy grin, “Hoo-wee! Man, that was a whole lot closer than I'd like, but I ain't down n’ out yet!” Stumbling away from the door, Ellis continued to chuckle, though weaker now. After a few steps his legs buckled out from under him, Ellis falling to the floor with a thud and gasp of pain. Now that he was out of apparent danger, the adrenaline rush keeping the survivor going had suddenly depleted. Still, he couldn't help a grin and one last retort towards the trapped Jockey. “H-Heh... ain't getting me that easily, y’hear? Urgh…”

Wincing, the young man gingerly prodded his left side, cursing under his breath as he did so. If the sharp stinging didn’t clue him in, the blood soaking his shirt sure did. His side was coated in blood—sticky, warm, and nasty—and it was definitely his own.

“Damn, that horde sure did a number on me…” Ellis slumped backwards onto his elbows, one arm cradling his side to try and lessen the blood flow as he did so. He promptly let out a muffled hiss when he tried to stretch out his legs, specifically his left one. “My leg too? How'd I not notice that? Aw, hell… guess I ain't goin’ anywhere for a while.”

After a moment, he slipped his right hand into its adjoining pocket, a smile quirking his lips as he heard the familiar rattle. “Thank _you_ Rochelle!” Quickly grasping the bottle of pills, he pulled out the miracle medicine, wasting no time in popping it open and tossing back two tablets. A relieved sigh left his lips as the pain almost instantly went away, dulled down to a barely-there ache.

Even though he was still bleeding, Ellis grinned to himself. Hell if he knew what they put in those drugs, but he sure ain't complaining!

The apocalypse survivor paused to rest a bit after the ordeal. Only for a few seconds, though, because he still has to clean and bandage his injuries. Don't want them getting any worse, after all.

Ellis shrugged off the med pack on his back, the one he kept with him at all times in case of emergency, and reached back to place it next to him for easy reach. He figured this counted as one (an emergency, that is), so swiftly unzipped the pack. Ellis quickly got to work patching himself up, deciding to figure out what his next step would be after he finished. For now, though, these wounds are’a stinging like crazy! Not to mention a good, long nap sure sounds nice…


	3. Want Out (Jockey)

_Nonononono…Whywhywhy?!_

It screeched in frustration, horror causing its body to quake, not the laughter. It doesn’t understand, why did the Big-Not-Biggest have to come? It had it! It had the human! The lesser were coming… coming to finish it! But then the bigger one opened the wall! It had fallen off, then the Pain-Causer closed the not-opening! How? Why, why, why were the lesser not coming?! Then the shaking, and the noises stopped! What, what, what happened? Doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter, human still here!

It tried to jump, jump for the human before it could attack—

_PainpainpainPAIN!_

—It was too slow!

How was the human faster? It is the fastest here! Only High-Jumper and Cryer are faster!

Stunned, it could only choke out a hissing laugh/snarl, enraged, as the human _picked it up_. Suddenly, it was flying. Flying in a wrong way, not having jumped, flying _backwards._ It screamed as its agonized back hit something, crumpling to the ground with a pained whine. Now, it could only giggle in response to the pain. Still, it struggled to stand, stumbling to where it had been thrown from. Then the wall returned; it slammed against the door, howling in laughter.

_Don’twantdon’twant-can’tjumpnojumpnonono!_

It kept hitting the door, over and over and _overandoverandover!_ Can’t get out, can’t get out, out, out, _outoutOUT!_

With every slam it giggled, more and more until it started to hurt and then it had to laugh more because of the pain and it was so funny, why was it so funny, so funny, _so FUNNY?!_

Curling up, wrapping its arms around itself. Rocking. Back and forth _backandforth._ Maybe wall will be gone? Gone when awake? Soon? _Soonsoonsoon?!_

The human—forgot about the human, _can’tforgetit-hateithatehatehateit!_ —started screeching back. Why did it screech, was it mad? Made it _mad-mad-mad-madder!_ Not good, not good! If it opens the wall again, it could come in. Come in when helpless. Come in and make it quiet. Quiet like the others. The ones who don’t move anymore. Don’t want the wall— _wantitwantitWANTIT_ —opened! _No-no-nononoPAIN!_

It forced itself into silence, forcibly closing its mouth, both hands grasping it desperately so as to not let out another sound. For the most part, it succeeded, and that seemed to pacify the human. Still, it remained quiet, save for the occasional rasping giggle slipping out.

It stayed like this for a some time, until the pain faded away and the noises became muffled and the darkness crept closer.

It doesn't know when the darkness finally came and it stopped moving. It may not like silence, but at least the hurting stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, I actually managed to make the deadline... nice! (Is ignoring that it's nearly midnight) XD


	4. Thank the Lord for Apocalypse Fanatics! (Ellis)

_…Thump..._

Not even bothering to glance up at the noise, Ellis rustled through the bigger-than-usual kit, grinning when he found not just a couple, but five whole rolls of gauze! Hoo-wee! Now ain't he just the lucky one?

_…Thump…!_

Would you look at that? Tweezers, alcohol (not for drinking), special medical tape, those gloves docs always wear, scissors, a bowl (who even bothers squeezin’ one a’ those into a case?)—

_Thump!_

—a couple’a water bottles ( _Hell yah!_ ), liquid salt or whatever, an ice pack that's still cool, a mini towel, some tubes of “antibacterial” cream—

_Thump! -Ump!_

—needle and strong lookin’ thread, run-of-the-mill bandages, plastic wraps, extra antibiotics ( _Gotta love them miracle meds!_ ), needles and bottles of stuff… hol-lee shit! He's never seen one this well stocked! Hell, he doesn't even recognize some of these things, and he’s best buds with _Keith_ , fer cryin’ out loud!

_Thu-thum-thump!_

Beyond grateful at having found such a well-stocked kit ( _Thank_ you _apocalypse fanatics!_ ), he wasted no more time in grabbing what he needs, having almost forgotten about the literal pain in his side, despite still using one hand to press against it. Speaking of which… shoot! Still bleedin’… That ain't good, but oh well. He can handle it, far from the worst he’s had.

**_THUMP!_ **

“Ah, shut it already, ya little creeper!”

Much to Ellis’ surprise, the Leaper listened to him (again) and stopped banging against the Safe House door. Actually, he felt kinda bad… he didn't really mean to yell at the little guy, Head-Humper or not. Oh well, Ellis chuckled somewhat ruefully, it's not like he really understands, right? “Lookit that, a tame zombie! Heh, almos’ like a dog. Yanno, one with rabies. Only _way_ worse.”

Anyways, back to the important part—bleeding. Ow.

Grabbing the bowl with his free hand, Ellis laid it down next to his injured side. At the same time, he carefully rolled his shirt up so that it sat a couple inches above the wounded area, grateful that it wasn't too sticky so that he’d have to cut it off or something. Glancing over the wound, Ellis grinned. Scratch that about the shirt, he's grateful that the bleeding seems to have slowed down.

Not bothering to test his luck, the survivor snagged the towel, the saline, and one of the bottles, twisting the cap off of the latter and pouring about half into the waiting bowl. Setting the bottle aside, Ellis added a dozen drops or so of the salt solution, waited a moment, then dipped the towel into the mixture, swirling it around a bit as he did so. Letting it sit so that half the towel was in the solution, Ellis grabbed the half-full bottle and poured the rest of it over the injury. After that, he used one corner of the now soggy towel to wipe away the grime and blood. Thankfully, nothing seemed to have gotten in the wound besides zombie cooties, but by now the Southerner hardly considered that to be a problem so much as downright disgusting.

Once he felt he’d cleaned up enough around the cut, Ellis turned the cloth around so that the dry corner dabbed against the injury, drying it off. Hissing as he applied a little pressure, Ellis shuffled through the kit with his other hand until he found the cream, a Neosporin knock-off by the looks of it. About to remove the towel, the survivor paused before pressing down a little more with a grumble. Gotta stop the bleeding again.

Setting the cream down in front of him, Ellis traded it for one of the rolls of gauze while he waited for the flow to ease up. The hick measured out a healthy amount of the material so as to cover the wound, and then some, then ripped it off the roll. By this time the bleeding had slowed down enough that Ellis felt he could remove towel, which he set in the bowl. He probably should have waited longer, but whose patient enough for that? ‘Sides, he still has his leg to take care of.

Cursing the undead, CEDA, and their grannies as he did so (but promptly apologizing for the latter), Ellis applied a layer of the antibacterial cream over the area in question. Capping the tube, he quickly but carefully (he’ll make sure to thank Keith for the experience when he sees his pal again) wrapped the length of gauze around his side until he felt it was nice and secure. Now all that’s left is taping it down, which he swiftly did, but just to be sure he added another layer of gauze, tying it off with a huff and a grin when he finished.

Meanwhile, as is typical of the country guy, Ellis had been jabbering on to no one about another one of his stories—Keith-centered, naturally—and was beginning the next one just as he’d started patching up his leg.

“Man, this reminds me of the time Keith got himself stuck in a shed with a rabid raccoon— ~~fu- _uuuck_ , that hurt!~~ Ah hell, now _that_ was funny. And I do mean ha-ha funny this time,— ~~shee _eet_ , those were my favorite pants! …My only pants!~~—though Keith didn’ seem to agree with me, what with the scarrin’ ‘n all… an’ the— ~~tweezers, tweezers…~~ —bazooka? I dunno ‘bout that one, I think he caught the ‘coon’s rabies by that point. But— ~~can someone give me a hand here? ...Oh. Heh, whoops~~ —then again, I sure wasn’ the one stuck in there with that thing…— ~~ _oooh_ , that’s sure gonna sting in the mornin’…~~ Well, guess I am now, but instead of a shed I’m trapped inside a safe house and instead of a raccoon there’s this creepy ass zombie thing.”

Letting out a sigh as he ended his rambling, Ellis finished up dressing his wound in relative silence, cussing aside. After a little while, he carefully stretched out his legs, swearing at the sharp tug and spasm of pain. “Guess I ain’t movin’ for a while… Wish I had that ‘coon’s bazooka.” Chuckling to himself as he capped the various bottles and put away the remaining supplies, the hick scooted to the nearest wall and leaned back with a wince and slight frown. “Aw, man, I miss Ro and the rest already... Shoot, are they ok? Ah, what’m I talkin’ about, ‘course they’re fine! Wonder if they’re still lookin’ for me. Wouldn’ blame ‘em if they weren’t, but it’d sure be nice…” Another sigh as he eyed the red door waiting across the room, slowly drifting off to sleep. And to think, he'd almost forgotten 'bout the Jockey...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you actually reading this, sorry it took so dang long to update... Well, I never promised I'd update EVERY Friday... still, sorry for making you wait GirAwesome43, windshear, Tuffy, and anyone else reading this. Hope you guys enjoyed this update! ...Even though it's just Ellis dressing his wounds... Eheh...


End file.
